September 14, 2020
Hon. Steven T. Mnuchin
Chair
Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States
U.S. Department of the Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20220
Dear Secretary Mnuchin:
The Chinese company ByteDance’s ownership of TikTok threatens the national
security of the United States.
President Trump made that crystal clear on August 6, when he issued an executive
order finding that “TikTok automatically captures vast swaths of information from its
users, including Internet and other network activity information such as location data and
browsing and search histories,” that “TikTok also reportedly censors content that the
Chinese Communist Party deems politically sensitive,” and that TikTok “may also be
used for disinformation campaigns that benefit the Chinese Communist Party.”1 That was
why the executive order prohibited “any transaction by any person, or with respect to any
property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, with ByteDance Ltd.”—
TikTok’s Chinese parent company—at the end of a 45-day period.
All of those same threats persist today. China’s repressive intelligence laws,
which allow the seizure of data from Chinese companies like ByteDance if the Chinese
Communist Party comes knocking, still remain in force. And that is why any corporate
shell game that leaves TikTok in the hands of ByteDance will simply perpetuate the
original problem, leaving U.S. national interests and everyday users at serious risk.
Despite these realities, earlier today Oracle Corporation publicly confirmed
reporting from last night that it had reached an agreement to serve as the “trusted
technology provider” for TikTok’s operations.2 It is far from clear what this arrangement
entails—doubly so because ByteDance has expressly disclaimed any intention of selling
the TikTok algorithm or code.3 Some reports suggest that ByteDance’s reticence may be

1

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-addressing-threat-posed-tiktok/
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/14/oracle-confirms-deal-with-tiktok-owner-bytedance-to-become-trustedtechnology-provider.html
3
https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3101362/tiktoks-algorithm-not-sale-bytedancetells-us-source
2

 due to new Chinese export control rules, which allegedly restrict the sale of technologies
such as TikTok’s recommendation algorithm.4
But regardless of the reason, the available evidence compels only one conclusion:
ByteDance has no intention whatsoever of relinquishing ultimate control of TikTok.
ByteDance, as TikTok’s parent company, will continue to be subject to Chinese laws that
put Americans’ data at risk. That is precisely the problem that the President’s action
sought to solve, and it is that same problem that the proposed Oracle partnership leaves
fully intact. In short, the proposal violates the President’s executive order.
CFIUS should promptly reject any Oracle-ByteDance collaboration and send the
ball back to ByteDance’s court so that the company can come up with a more acceptable
solution. ByteDance can still pursue a full sale of TikTok, its code, and its algorithm to a
U.S. company, so that the app can be rebuilt from the ground up to remove any trace of
CCP influence. Or perhaps, given constraints imposed by Chinese law, the only feasible
way to maintain Americans’ security is to effectively ban the TikTok app in the United
States altogether. In any event, an ongoing “partnership” that allows for anything other
than the full emancipation of the TikTok software from potential Chinese Communist
Party control is completely unacceptable, and flatly inconsistent with the President’s
Executive Order of August 6.
American national security is on the line. I strongly urge you and the other
members of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to immediately
reject the proposed Oracle-ByteDance partnership. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,

A
Josh Hawley
United States Senator

4

https://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/china-block-tiktok-algorithm-us-sale/